Grab iron for railway cars



May 24, 1932. A. E. SMALL, www,

GRAB IRON FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. 25, 1930 Patented May 24, 1932 UNITED STATESN PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR E. SMALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION` METAL PRODUCTS i COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE GRAB IRON FOR RAILWAY CARS Application led August 25, 1930. Serial No. 477,576.

It is customary to provide ladders on the sides and ends of railway freight train cars to enable brakemen and others to get on top of the box, furniture and similar cars and to get inside of gondola, hopper and similar cars. Such ladders may be formed of a plurality of handles separately attached to the car or may be formed of a pair of stiles having a plurality or rungs secured thereto. Similar handles or grab irons are applied on the opposite sides of the car from the ladders and also on the ends of the cars, and in the meaning of this invention, the term grab iron includes any of such devices whether separately attached to the car or whether they are attached as rungs to stiles to form ladders.

Bralemen and others are frequently required to mount the cars while they are in motion necessitating a hasty grab of the grab iron and it is not uncommon for a mans hand to slip and cause him to fall. This is particularly true in Wet or icy weather, and even if a mans hand is protected by aglove, the glove becomes wet and slippery. Furthermore, bralremen and others are required to climb the ladders while the car is in motion and it frequently happens that a foot slips on the tread or grab iron. It thus becomes imperative to provide some anti-skid or nonslip means on the tread of the grab iron.

l Some railroads provide a riser or offset at each end of the tread to prevent a'mans hand or foot from slipping entirely oli' of the tread, which construction is shown in the drawings, but is not a part of this invention, but shows the necessity of some anti-slip provision.

The object of the invention is to provide a grab iron comprising a tread provided with means to prevent a mans hand or foot from slipping thereon.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows `the preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a. section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line --Srof Fig. 1.

Fig. e is an enlarged section on line 4 -4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 shows a typical form of my improved grab iron secured to a car part 2 comprising a tread 3, risers t, brackets 5 and bases 6.

The tread is serrated or provided with depressions 9 in the upper surface to form antiskid means and preferably the underside is also formed with similar depressions 10 positioned alternately with the depressions 9` in the upper part of the tread. A simple form of manufacture consists in making the tread of a round bar bent alternately in opposite directions to form the depressions in the upper and lower parts of the tread. I prefer to form these depressions in the upper and lower parts of the tread. However, they may be positioned in one or more sides of the tread and still come within the scope of the invention.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread having depressions formed in the upper side thereof extending normal to the length of the tread.

2. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread having alternate depressions formed in the upper and lower sides thereoff 3. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread having alternate depressions formed therein in opposite sides thereof.

4. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread formed of a bar bent alternately in opposite directions to form depressions inV opposite sides thereof.

. ARTHUR E. SMALL. 

